Button Statment Rings | It’s September and that means it’s time to add another statement piece to your collection…. obviously! I heart almost every piece Nicole Richie designs for House Of Harlow 1960, especially her oversized rings. As amazing as these rings are they’re also an easy DIY. My friend Jenni, from I Spy DIY, did a project a few months back where she transformed buttons into earrings. #SuperFab This got me thing…let’s transform buttons into statement rings! Buttons, buttons everywhere!! Materials: Buttons, Clippers, Glue, Rings With Flat Tops (available at the jewelry supply store) Use your clippers to remove the shank from the back of the button. Once you’ve made the back of the button flat, use an ample amount of glue to secure the ring to the back of the button. Here’s another hint: If you can’t find a flat ring base, Ring Pops are a fun alternative. Once the base has dried, glue on the button. I now thing I have enough new statement rings to get me through the month.
DIY Ring Base A lot of you have been asking where to get ring bases for the projects here and here. When I can't find them in local craft stores, I make my own adjustable ring bases. Wanna make some, too? Materials: Wire (between 18 and 20 gauge) – I bought this wire from JoAnn's in the jewelry making section. Cut a piece of wire 6 inches long. Once the base is made, use E3000 glue or a brad to attach a fabric flower, button, or other fanciful item to the top of the spiral. The Real Deal: It costs less than $0.25 to make one ring base.
Friendship Bracelets Macraméd friendship bracelets were all the rage when I was growing up in the eighties. All the girls at my school would obsessively make them for one another in a dizzying variety of colors, widths, and patterns. It's amazing, thinking back, that such young girls could make such beautifully intricate accessories. I, of course, tried my hand at making them as well. I would ride my bike down to the five-and-dime store and pick out the most sophisticated color combinations of embroidery floss I could find, but when it came to the actual macramé I never got beyond plain stripes. Fast forward 20 years: Purl Soho started carrying DMC Cotton Embroidery Floss in every conceivable color (including fluorescents! Making friendship bracelets is a surprisingly easy craft, and best of all, in the end you'll have a bunch of cute summer bracelets to give to your pals. Materials Since this is such a free form enterprise the amount of colors of DMC embroidery floss you get is really up to you. Beginning
Make a t-shirt headband Of all the headbands I've made, I think this is my new favorite. It's like wearing sweats on your head, without the dumpy look. It's so cushy and comfortable! And yes, I am wearing the shirt with the bottom cut off in the picture. Scrounge around for an old t-shirt. Fold in half lengthwise and pin in place. Fold the headband right side out. Make a flower or two and hand stitch it over the seam. The Real Deal: It cost me pretty much nothing. Colored Pencil Jewelry Note from Design Mom: I asked Kate of Mini Eco to create a Back to School themed project for us to try. I think making beads out of colored pencils is brilliant! Wouldn’t these beads be fun for your elementary school-ers to string for a class project? Lately I have become a little addicted to making (and wearing) colored pencil jewelry. I think the results look great and you, or your child, will definitely stand out from the crowd wearing them! You will need Colored PencilsJunior hacksawFine sandpaperDrill and small drill bitThread (for the necklace)Superglue (for the brooch and earrings)Brooch back (for the brooch) How to: Basic Bead Necklace 1. 2 & 3. 4. Once you have cut a number of beads simply string them onto a length of thread…job done! Tip: These little beads are also make lovely bracelets. How to: Pointy Necklace 1. 2. 3. How to: Brooch If you fancy a bit more of a challenge then why not have a go at making the colored pencil brooch? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
DIY Painted Feathers I’ve always loved the idea of painting fake feathers, and with festival season underway it seemed like the perfect time to do it. I originally thought of these purely as decorations but then it occurred to me that they’d be a great finishing touch for a festival outfit. This is a great activity to do outside on a warm sunny day, and once you start it’s slightly addicting! What you need: fake feathers, paint (I used acrylic paint), and a paint brush. I got this paint from Utrecht and I love it. I added a little bit of water to the paint before applying to the feathers, and they absorbed the paint almost like watercolor. After the entire feather was covered I added some dots and lines with white paint. Get as creative and colorful as you want with the feathers! I wanted to add in some of the smaller brown feathers to my arrangement, so for those I kept it simple and painted them in colorful ombre shades. Arrange your feathers on a wall as beautiful spring artwork! Photos by Julia & Brigette.
DIY Chainmail Necklace You’ll need: Start by separating the jump rings into two halves: 175 open and 175 closed. Thread three closed jump rings onto an open jump ring. Close the ring. Spread the three rings apart, with the rings looking exactly as shown below. The bottom ring will be the end of the necklace and the top two rings, which are spread open over the middle ring, will be where the chain mail begins. Keeping the rings in place with your forefinger and thumb, take an open jump ring and hook it through the front side of the two rings. Add 2 closed rings to the open ring and close. Spread the two rings apart in the same way as the first set of rings. Add 2 closed rings and close. To add an optional fourth row, lay the necklace flat and hook an open ring through first and second closed rings on the right side. I stopped at 4 rows but you can continue adding rows for a more bib-like necklace. Connect the two ends with a single jump ring or clasp. Fini! (top image from here, rest of images by HonestlyWTF)
Modern DIY Bracelets 28 Jun As a girl, I spent a lot of summer days lounging around making friendship bracelets of one form or another. It started simply with trios of embroidery thread and eventually evolved into more intricate creations involving beads and other such adornments. Lately, all sorts of inspiring DIY bracelet posts have cropped up around the web and it’s made me nostalgic for those uncomplicated summers. So today I’ve rounded up a dozen wonderful bracelet crafts. Share them with a special young girl in your life and carry on the tradition. Dip dyed nautical rope bracelets DIY at …love Maegan. Lester lace bracelets at I SPY DIY. Summer bracelets DIY at Between the Lines. Classic friendship bracelet DIY at Design Mom. 15 minute Mod Podge wooden bracelet at maya*made. Summer kid craft: friendship bracelets at ohdeedoh. DIY braided hex nut bracelet, DIY rope bracelet, and DIY friendship bracelet from Honestly…WTF. Modern friendship bracelets DIY at A Beautiful Mess. P.S. P.S.
Simple Ear Cuff Tutorial What you've all be waiting for... an ear cuff tutorial! I've been making ear cuffs for over a year, but unfortunately haven't had the time to make some of the insanely complicated designs I've dreamed up. This, however, is a very simple ear cuff that takes only a few minutes to master! Ear cuffs (also known as ear clips, cartiliage cuffs, ear vines, and more) are fabulous for people who don't have pierced ears-- or pair them with other earrings for a "double piercing" look. All you need is pliers and some wire (the pictured wires are 20ga blue silver plated copper and 20ga enameled copper in various colors). Begin with 3 inches of wire. Fold at one inch. Fold again, creating a little zigzag. Twist the ends into swirls and pinch the swirls until they touch the center wire. You will need a mandel to form the ear cuff correctly. Push the ends down... The tips of the ends will still be straight. Tada! This brown ear cuff fits both ears. This ear cuff is for the left ear.
anthropologie knock off vintage lace bracelet The prettiness from Monday and yesterday continues today with a little anthro-inspired bracelet tutorial. In a word, lovely. The lace-and-pearls embroidered on vintage lace is just loveliness. The idea came from Anthropologie (shocker, right?). For Jord’s birthday, I was wanting to give her a present that was lightweight (read- easily packed), and just pretty. The Scalloped Spirea Bracelet fit the bill perfectly. You’ll need--two lengths of 6″x2″ ribbon or lace for the base and the backing (doesn’t have to be vintage, it gets covered)-enough vintage lace/trim to cover the your ‘base’ (see above)-extra lace/trim to tie-embroidery thread-invisible thread-beads, pearls, etc. for embellishing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
DIY Macrame Bracelet Growing up by the beach in Southern California, the ability to knot a macrame bracelet was practically a right of passage. Although those days are long behind us, we’ve never forgotten the ever-so-simple square knot technique. This time, however, we’re replacing hemp and wooden beads for more updated elements like colorful nylon cord and glossy metal charms. You’ll need: Start by cutting the knotting cord into two 30 inch, two 20 inch and one 10 inch lengths. Center the 30 inch cord under the two middle strands. Pull tightly and slide the knot up to the top. Finish the 2nd half of the square knot by folding the left cord over the middle strands and under the right cord. Pull tightly and repeat the steps – left, right, left, right . . . To finish the knots, thread one of the cords onto a needle and sew up the center of 3-4 knots along the backside. Repeat the same step on the other cord. After sewing up both knotting cords, trim away any excess.
Popsicle Stick Bracelets So I was looking through my vintage craft book collection and ran across a 1970 Pack O’ Fun magazine. They had instructions on how to take a simple popsicle stick and turn it into a bracelet. I’m always happy to try and take a good idea and run with it. Well, I’m certainly on board for that. The thought of being able to make wood pliable put all kinds of ideas in my head. Are you new to the Sitcom? For this project I used: Popsicle sticks (bought the industrial strength size bag from Walmart because this project might go in future directions)Drinking glass (for forming- use a glass with a top opening that is slightly smaller than you want your bracelet to end up)Emory board or sand paperAcrylic paintStick on jewels (for bling)Mod Podge The instructions in the magazine called for allowing the popsicle sticks to sit in water overnight. I found that I still had to work the wood, warming it with my fingers, to make it pliable enough to fit into the top of the glass without splitting.